Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Monday brought back 16 Bangladeshi fishermen who were in the custody of Arakan Army.
Commander of BGB Teknaf 2 Battalion Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Mohiuddin Ahmedconfimed the matter at a press conference on Tuesday noon.
Earlier, a fishing trawler with 16 fishermen, which had departed from Nuniyarchhara Fishery Ghat in Cox's Bazar on September 28, was attacked and looted by robbers while fishing in the Bay of Bengal. The robbers assaulted the fishermen, locked them inside the deck, and later abandoned the trawler on a char in Myanmar's border area.
The kidnapped fishermen contacted the Arakan Army through local residents in the area and took shelter with them. After being in the custody of the Arakan Army for six days, they informed the BGB about the situation on Sunday. Following this, BGB officials communicated with the Arakan Army through the Shah Porir Island border of the Naf River on Monday evening and successfully brought back the 16 fishermen.
The returning fishermen are identified as Md Ismail (27), Abdul Hafez (28), Azizur Rahman (45), Abu Hena (40), Ali (40), Arafat (30), Md. Helal (28), Aman Ullah (50), Nabi Hossain (28), Md. Salimullah (45), Md. Yunus (52), Md. Sagar (22), Md Salim (28), Dil Mohammad (27), Rahim Ullah (52) and Md Zainal (55).
Lt. Col. Mohiuddin said that on the morning of September 28, 16 fishermen went to fish in the deep Bay of Bengal with a trawler from Nuniarchara Fishery Ghat of Cox's Bazar On the evening of October 5, some unidentified robbers in 3 trawlers attacked the fishermen, beat them up and kept them locked inside the deck of the trawler. The robber gang released the fishermen in a char in the Myanmar part of the Bay of Bengal on October 7.
Later, the aggrieved fishermen contacted the Arakan Army through the help of local Myanmar civilians and surrendered to them. After six days in the custody of the Arakan Army, the matter was reported to the BGB on Sunday (October 13). In response to this, on Monday evening, BGB officials contacted the Arakan Army and brought back 16 fishermen through ShahPari island border of Naf River.
Lt. Col. Mohammad Mohiuddin Ahmed said that BGB officials contacted the relatives of the returning fishermen and handed over them on Tuesday afternoon.
